Photography, invented in 1839, enhances the historical capability of Cornell University Library, thereby strengthening "the intellectual foundation of our university," said Stephan Loewentheil, J.D. '75.

Loewentheil a self-described "fanatical collector of photographs," spoke Oct. 5 at a Cornell Library Salon in New York City. His talk, "In the Storm's Eye: Mathew Brady and the Birth of Photojournalism," focused on how Brady, a pioneer in the early use of photography in the 19th century, "dedicated his life to the historic potential of photography during its infancy."

The event commemorated the sesquicentennial of the Civil War, said University Librarian Anne Kenney, who hosted the event. Nearly 200 Cornell alumni and friends attended the salon held at the National Arts Club.

"[Brady] told the glorious story of American history through photography," Loewentheil said, "and used the newly created techniques of photojournalism both to create history and to formulate a collective visual memory of the Civil War for Americans for centuries to come."

Photography allowed, for the first time, a "completely different method to replace human memory as the main repository of detailed visual storage," Loewentheil said.

Brady, a prominent portrait photographer in New York by the middle of the century, captured the images of the biggest personalities in America, including every U.S. president for four decades.

In fact, one of these portraits, a single tiny photograph, had an enormous historical impact when in 1860, the prominent newspaper editor Horace Greeley led a force to defeat the overwhelming frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination, William Seward, who had offended Greeley. They chose as their candidate Abraham Lincoln, and invited him to Brady's New York studio to be photographed.

The result was a 2.5-by-4-inch photograph (extensively retouched) of Lincoln that became one of the most widely distributed cartes de visite (visiting-card-sized mounted photos) bringing Lincoln's face to households far and wide. According to Loewentheil, "Lincoln himself on more than one occasion noted, 'Brady and the Cooper Union speech made me president of the United States.'"

Such cartes de visite represented a new level of intimacy, Loewentheil said, bringing the faces of famous men and women directly into people's homes.

"This allowed intimate psychological contact with the great and infamous men and women of the period," Loewentheil said. "The carte de visite actually marks the beginning of the modern cult of personality in American journalism."

During the Civil War, soldiers carried cartes de visite of loved ones, and there are countless reports of the wounded holding these photos close to their hearts as they fell on the battlefield, Loewentheil said. With his huge enterprise, "Catalogue of Photographic Incidents of the Civil War" (1863), Brady became a great documenter of the war. He trained battalions of photographers and outfitted 20 photographic wagons to capture images. Indeed, many of his protégées later became extremely influential, Loewentheil noted.

"[Brady] was not necessarily behind the lens of each scene, but the overall panorama was uniquely the result of his genius," Loewentheil said. "Brady's view of the war remained a glorious panorama of American heroes."

Brady's legacy, according to Loewentheil, consists of nothing less than the modern photojournalistic tradition. "This trend, which Brady helped initiate, continues to accelerate every day through the technologies of the modern computer and internet, which use photography and instantaneous reproduction to bring news and history to our country in an ever increasingly speedy manner -- all beginning with Brady's photographs."

Cornell University Library is seeking supporters to help purchase Loewentheil's collection of 15,000 photographs on Lincoln, the Civil War, Brady and everyday life in 19th-century America, Kenney noted.

David Kessel is a freelance journalist in New York City.